Random Babe Short Story Collection
by TT's Miscellany
Summary: This is a collection of some of the random BABE short stories that I've written. The majority of them are fluff and more fluff. I hope you enjoy them. :-
1. Biding Time

_Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Challenge – Jeri's Week 10 – Toby Keith challenge – option 1) lines from the chorus of "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This" (set off in bold italics)_

_Warning: I believe I have accomplished DRIVEL! It's quite a momentous moment for me. If not drivel, I've at least managed fluff. :-)_

_Rating: Suitable for people over 13_

**Biding Time**

By TT

Ranger tried opening his eyes once more and quickly slammed them shut as the world tilted and spun in new, unusual directions.

It would be a few more hours before the initial effects of his concussion would fade enough for him to carry out his plan of action.

In some ways, he found it almost embarrassing to be in this position, but, on the other hand, he knew it to be the best option and result.

He briefly wondered what Stephanie would say if she discovered his ability to judge the effects of a concussion on himself. Probably have a wise crack about taking one too many to the head. Or not. Maybe she would offer sympathy and comfort. He felt his blood begin to stir at the thought of her hands gently caressing him, her body holding him close…

Ranger commanded himself to stop thinking that way.

As always, such orders from his mind were blatantly ignored by the rest of his body, leaving him to wonder when his heart had taken over control of his life.

_When you first met Stephanie Plum_ his heart whispered in response.

A sigh escaped Ranger as he acknowledged the truth. He's started losing control of the situation when she walked into that diner. The smile that he shot her had, he convinced himself at the time, been filled with amusement and maybe a hint of lust. Now he wondered if it had been more.

She'd never backed down, though. He idly wondered if he would have been so determined had their positions been reversed. Obviously he never would have been a lingerie buyer, but what if he had stuck with college?

Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to toy with that idea for a few minutes.

Of course, it proved nearly impossible for him to think of what his life would have been like without the army. Perhaps he would have ended up as middle-management somewhere in an accounting or financial firm.

What would he have done if he'd walked into that diner and met a leather-clad, ghetto-talking, gun-toting Stephanie?

A bark of laughter escaped.

He just couldn't do it. He couldn't imagine Stephanie being anything other than what she was. Yes, he knew she had killed a man, more than one to own the truth. She survived things that turned _his_ stomach and continued on despite them, but through it all Stephanie remained Stephanie – somehow innocent, untouched, friendly, open and kind.

No, he couldn't reverse their positions. He just didn't have enough imagination. He also had the sneaking suspicion that he didn't have the drive to stick things out as she had. True, his Ranger's training had helped there, but the strength Stephanie displayed in the face of the chaos and evil that assaulted her came from deep within a person. Ranger knew there was no way to teach it, you either had it or you didn't.

Since trying to imagine his and Stephanie's positions reversed wouldn't work, he contemplated giving in to his favorite fantasy, one where he and Stephanie spent time together in the most intimate way a man and woman could.

A cough from his guard immediately quashed those thoughts. He knew how his body reacted to those fantasies and he really wasn't in any condition to experience that reaction, not to mention he didn't want his captors to see him in that condition.

Stephanie, however, would not leave his mind. She almost never did when he had quiet moments. She alone could be counted responsible for him continuing his work with the government. The jobs he took with them kept his mind occupied with something other than the gaping, Stephanie-sized hole in his life.

_So fill it with her_, his heart prodded.

In truth, Ranger desperately wanted to do that, but a combination of wariness and fear prevented him from acting upon those desires. At best, his life was regimented and demanding. At worst, his job completely consumed him. In a moment of clarity a few months ago, he realized that, other than work, he had nothing else in his life – no outside interests, no hobbies. At some point after Carlos became Ranger, Ranger became the job. Did he really believe Stephanie could maintain interest in a man whose stress relief involved working out, buying real estate and playing the stock market?

He didn't even watch sports, not that he ever had. He couldn't recall the last time he just hung out with friends rather than going out simply to pick up a woman and get laid.

Stephanie called him 'Batman', but even Bruce Wayne had more hobbies than he did. What could he offer her to keep her interested other than sex and work?

_You'll find something you both enjoy_ his brain decided to inform him.

He took in a deep breath and let it out. She deserved more than he could offer, but even Ranger couldn't lie to himself. After almost four years of working together, depending on each other, looking after her, he needed her. The nebulous 'someday' he mentioned couldn't be put off much longer if at all. The time to make his move had finally come. The rest he would have to play by ear.

He almost laughed at himself when he realized it took a concussion and kidnapping to wake him up enough to realize he needed her.

Shaking his head at his thoughts, Ranger hissed in pain. Not a smart move, though his head hurt much less than it had before. Probably only another hour or two before h could act on his plan. That, of course, was provided his captors didn't move first.

A wry smile appeared on his face as he thought of his captors.

He intended to only make a quick withdrawal at the bank before heading back to Trenton. Unfortunately, the gunmen had different ideas.

Though confident of his own abilities to take down the robbers, the women and young children in the bank with him proved enough of a deterrent to action that he hadn't moved.

His lack of action earned him a gun-but to the temple, knocking him unconscious for several moment.

He had no idea what happened while he was out, but when he awoke, he knew from the pain in his head, the dizziness, nausea, double vision and the feeling of weakness in his limbs that the robber had given him a mild to moderate concussion.

The masked men were headed out of the bank dragging a woman and a screaming child with them.

Ranger had somehow gathered enough words together to convince them to take him in the woman and child's stead. He even offered to pay them for his release once they got away, assuring the robbers that he had money enough to give them what they wanted.

After a moment's debate, the robbers had agreed.

Given his state at that point in time, he posed no threat to them, however, his training still worked and, despite the pain and confusion; his mind documented everything it could about his captors, noting any and all weaknesses he could exploit when the time came.

Now he sat in the room they had thrown him wondering if his head would clear enough for action before the men from the Boston office took out the robbers or not.

He knew such an activity would have made the news, he had heard the police sirens as they drove away. Ranger also knew the cameras on the nearby buildings would reveal his identity. His watch had a tracking device in it he turned on as soon as the robbers had taken him out of the bank.

Of course, they would need to get in touch with Tank in Trenton to get the tracking frequency so there might be some delay.

Ranger reviewed his plans once more before opening his eyes.

This time the room didn't spin.

Slowly he made his way to his feet, satisfied when the room stayed where it should and his legs no longer felt weak.

He knew any sort of exertion so soon after a concussion was never a good idea, but he had never been one to rely on others to rescue him. A smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he realized that was another trait he and Stephanie had in common.

Moving forward, he rested his ear against the door and listened to the sounds outside the room. There were none.

Ranger almost sighed at the ineptness of his captors. Even with the concussion, this wouldn't be much of a challenge.

Testing the knob, he found the door locked. Pulling a Swiss army knife out of his pocket, he quickly chose the blade he wanted. They may have taken his guns and knife, but leaving him the Swiss army knife had been equally foolish.

Moving to the other side of the door, he pried the pins out of the hinges and opened the door.

His footsteps, normally silent, fell more heavily than usual, but the thick carpeting in the hallway deadened any sound that might have resulted.

Checking each room as he passed it, Ranger noted that all were empty.

He paused at the top of the stairs, listening closely to the noises below.

With some patience, he managed to identify the voices of all his captors. They seemed to be congregating in the same room.

Ranger debated only a moment whether he should just escape or take down the quartet before leaving.

He could see the logic in escaping and coming back, but he knew his reputation on the street would only be increased by taking down his four kidnappers.

Taking a deep breath, he released it slowly, shutting out all extraneous thought and focusing on the task at hand.

With a stealth most cats would envy, he prowled forward until he reached the doorway to the kitchen.

As expected, all four of his captors were in the room. None were currently armed and all the guns were on the table. It was almost too easy.

Without warning, Ranger moved into the room and attacked his startled captors.

The fight quickly proved his assumption that they were not professionals by any means.

After knocking out the last of his captors, Ranger dragged them across the floor and into a line none too gently.

He stood and scanned the room for something to use as binding.

Spotting a roll of duct tape, he took one step toward the counter before the room began to spin and black dots danced before his eyes, blocking his vision.

He felt his legs weaken and begin to collapse as the front door burst open and darkness claimed him.

**** **** **** ****

Ranger felt his stomach twist slightly as he began to swim his way through the darkness that engulfed him.

He took several shallow breaths in the hopes of calming his stomach with no positive results. With the barest of conscious thoughts, his eyes flew open and he turned onto his side.

The contents of his stomach emptied themselves before he knew what was happening. When the heaving stopped and the throbbing pain in his head subsided enough, he registered the feel of a cool washcloth wiping his face. He heard it land with a damp plop on the bedside tray before he felt a straw being held to his lips.

"Sip and rinse," a gentle, familiar voice commanded.

Ranger did as instructed, not bothering to open his eyes, trusting that the nurse would have whatever she caught his sickness in nearby to catch his spit.

He then felt two small hands rolling him onto his back. His eyes flickered at the feeling of a cool, damp cloth against the back of his neck and he nearly sighed in relief as a second cloth covered his eyes.

A series of sounds next to his bed caught his attention and he realized the nurse must be cleaning up. Deciding he wanted to at least see what his nurse looked like, he opened his eyes to see Stephanie holding what appeared to be a plastic ice-bucket at arm's length headed toward the bathroom.

Ranger closed his eyes and felt his cheeks heat in embarrassment as he realized Stephanie had not only seen him being sick, but had taken care of him as well. Having a nurse do it was bad enough, but his Babe didn't need to see him like this.

After a few minutes he heard the toilet flush and the water in the sink run into the ice bucket. He decided she must be cleaning it out.

Several minutes later, he heard Stephanie crossing the room once more.

He started slightly and reached up to remove the cool, damp washcloth covering his eyes.

"Leave it there," Stephanie instructed, taking his hand in her own before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. "What am I going to do with you, Batman?" she asked, amusement in her voice. "Can't even let you out of Trenton without you causing a ruckus."

Ranger felt his lips twitch upward into a smile. "Got bored without you around," he replied softly. His smile broadened as he heard her snort before laughing. Reaching out a hand, he tried to find her, to touch her. Instead, she took his hand in her own and squeezed it before returning it to the bed beside him. This time she didn't release it, though.

"I think you need some more sleep," she informed him. "Apparently your head got hit pretty hard. It must have shaken something up there loose."

"Babe," Ranger protested, amused. But he could feel the pull of sleep dragging him once more into the darkness. It didn't seem so important, this time, though, because Stephanie was here with him.

**** **** **** ****

Twenty-four hours later, Ranger had convinced his doctors, Tank and Stephanie he should leave the hospital and recover at home.

They eventually agreed.

The time in the hospital had allowed Ranger more time for thought. Oddly, even with the worst of his headache gone, the idea of having Stephanie in his life permanently didn't seem outrageous. She and Morelli had been apart for several months and showed no sign of getting back together. The fact that Morelli was currently openly dating another woman was a positive sign in Ranger's book.

The first thing Ranger planned to do would be to convince Stephanie to stay with him. Then, he would let her know that 'someday' could be today if she wanted.

Everything seemed to be going as planned. Despite sleeping almost the entire way, the three of them – Tank, Stephanie and Ranger – made it safely back to Trenton.

Ranger had used the drive to convince Stephanie to stay with him for the next few days.

Now that he had her alone in his apartment, Ranger wanted nothing more than to convince her to try living life together with him. Unfortunately, the words wouldn't come no matter how hard he thought about it.

Sitting on the couch in the living area, he heard her moving around in the bedroom. The sound of something falling and a soft curse from Stephanie piqued his curiosity enough to have him chance standing up and moving.

When he arrived in the room, he saw Stephanie standing in the closet with a pile of clothes around her, hands on her hips and toe tapping in frustration.

A wide smile spread across his face as he took in the sight. What he wouldn't give for a lifetime of sights like this.

Moving forward, he carefully avoided stepping on any of the clothes and wrapped is arms around her. "Babe," he said softly, drawing her close. He chuckled silently as he watched her angry look turn into a pout.

"It's not my fault," she protested.

"I know," he assured, pulling her closer still. With her so close, her scent filling him the feel of her in his arms, he couldn't resist. Leaning forward, he captured her lips with his and kissed her with all the love, passion and devotion he felt at that moment. His heart and soul rejoiced when he felt his emotions returned in equal measure.

When they finally broke apart, he rested his forehead against Stephanie's.

A few minutes later she spoke. "You can't kiss me like that, Ranger," she said a moment before he captured her lips once more.

"Like what?" he asked, his lips brushing against hers with each word.

Stephanie's eyes opened and met his and he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "Like today is 'someday'. Like your life does lend itself to a relationship." Her voice was nearly a whisper as she added, "Like you love me, want me the way I do you."

Her words stirred Ranger's heart and he brought her to him once more, claiming her lips, her heart, her soul with his kiss.

When they finally broke apart, Stephanie was panting, but repeated, "_**When you kiss me like this, I think you mean it like that.**_ Don't play with me Ranger. My heart can't take it."

Ranger reached up and caressed her cheek. "I do mean it like that, Babe. Someday is today if you want it. Forever is yours if you'll take it. I can't deny it or hide from it any more, Stephanie. I love you. I need you. I'm yours if you'll have me."

Stephanie looked deeply into his eyes, feeling tears of joy and relief filling her eyes as she leaned closer. "Yes. Yes to someday, to everyday, to forever. I love you," she admitted, her lips brushing his. "I need you," she assured, her voice a whisper. "I'm yours," she confirmed, as she kissed him.

End.


	2. Christmas In The Dark

_Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum Series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Notes: This story was inspired (a few months late) by a challenge on one of the yahoo lists to use a quote from Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". _

**Christmas In The Dark**

By TT

Curled under a blanket in her living room, Stephanie listened to the sound of Christmas songs emanating from her radio. The 'book on tape' version of "A Christmas Carol" Mary Lou presented to her had finished a while ago. She could still smell the live Christmas tree Mooner had given her. Though unexpected, she welcomed the gift.

The tree now stood in the corner of the room, but she couldn't really see it. She decorated it properly – lights, ornaments, garland, tinsel and even an angel on top – but currently the lights were off. In fact, the only lights in the apartment came from her VCR and radio.

She could recall reading somewhere that this time of year led to an increase in depression, especially in single people. Though she did feel down just now, her emotions had nothing to do with it being Christmas.

She and Joe broke up permanently on Halloween; her favorite holiday. As breakups go, it failed to rate much beyond 'normal' for a regular couple and definitely only hit 'unspectacular' for them.

The split itself hadn't been too much of a surprise, but, when they failed to identify each other in the costumes they chose, both Stephanie and Joe finally realized they really weren't at the same place in life. Maybe at another time it would work out, but for now, they found themselves headed in opposite directions with conflicting goals. If they couldn't even recognize each other in simple costumes, how much had they each deluded themselves into believing they were "seeing" the other person.

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, Stephanie knew she was over Joe. It took until the second week of December, though, before she felt ready to face Ranger and ask him for what her heart desired. She clearly remembered all of his lines from the past, but, she had been brushing up on her negotiating skills. She just needed to get him alone and convince him to tell her exactly what he wanted from her, tell him what she wanted and find a place in the middle for a starting point.

*** ***

(Ten days before)

Stephanie took in her appearance once more. She looked good and the dressier clothes gave her a tiny boost of confidence; something she would need for the upcoming meeting.

Tonight she would meet the man who owned her heart and open her heart. She sincerely hoped his love matched hers.

Pulling into the Rangeman garage a little later, she stepped out of her car and headed toward the elevator. Before she hit the call button, the doors opened and she found herself face to face with Ranger.

She swallowed hard at the sight of him. He wore a tailored, black, raw-silk suit with a burgundy shirt and tie.

"Babe," he greeted, his tone neutral and polite.

"Ranger," she returned, trying to smile. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "I was hoping you might have a few minutes to talk with me?"

His blank face quickly covered a brief flash of worry. "Problems?" he asked.

"No," Stephanie denied. "I just wanted to talk to you."

Ranger's eyes flashed to the watch on his wrist. "Can it wait?" he asked, his tone still neutral and polite. "I have a date."

Stephanie felt as if she had been both punched in the stomach and had her heart ripped out. Fighting against the emotion, she fought to curve the corners of her mouth upward and started to turn toward her car. "Sure," she managed to choke out, shocked when her voice sounded almost normal. By this point she had moved away from the elevator and no longer faced Ranger directly. She felt him beside her and watched him out of the corner of her eye. Not once did he look at her, only at his car. Once she reached her car, she felt another flare of emotional pain when Ranger continued walking right past her toward the Turbo a few spots down. Opening her door, she managed to offer, "Have fun" before slipping into her car, buckling her belt and driving away.

*** ***

(Present)

She never bothered to try and have that conversation again. With Ranger seeing someone else, there was absolutely no reason for her to talk to him and he never tried to contact her.

The bond office had been easy to avoid. If no one skipped, she had no work. Apparently, this year everyone wanted on Santa's 'nice' list. That meant less chance of running into Ranger or, worse, hearing about his girlfriend from Connie and Lula. Of course, no income also meant that she needed to economize, thus sitting in the dark without even the Christmas tree lights plugged in.

Her eyes drifted toward the dark mound piled up on the planter in which the tree stood. The random thought that she would have to find someplace to plant the tree outside passed through her mind. Though she couldn't see anything clearly, she knew exactly where Ranger's gift sat under the tree. She still couldn't decide if she should give it to him or not. If he opened it, he would know without a doubt how she felt about him. A small chuff of laughter escaped as she realized the gift had been in her possession since April. Obviously, even back then, her heart knew what her mind wouldn't acknowledge.

"Too bad I'm too late," she whispered to the dark.

A soft scratching noise at her door caught her attention a few seconds before she heard the tumbling of the lock. She debated getting up and turning on a light, but decided not to bother. She knew there would come a day when she'd have to see Ranger again. Hopefully she would be able to avoid revealing too much. The last thing she wanted to do was look like a foolish, love-struck schoolgirl.

Stephanie heard the door open and close. Though she couldn't hear his footsteps across the floor, she definitely felt Ranger's presence drawing nearer. "Hey, Ranger," she greeted, trying to put some cheer in her voice.

"Babe," he returned after a second's hesitation.

A few seconds later, Stephanie saw him standing in front of her. Sitting up, she invited, "Sit." A small bit of surprise filled her when he chose to sit next to her on the couch.

"Taken to sitting in the dark?" he asked.

"Darkness is cheap," she retorted.

"And Scrooge liked it," Ranger finished the quote from Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol". A few moments of silence stretched between them before Ranger spoke. "Is that why you stopped by that night? To ask if I had some work for you?"

Stephanie stiffened. He had just provided the perfect answer to her dilemma. He would never have to know the truth of her feelings, she would never have to lay herself open, never take that chance, never fly. The last thought decided her. As terrifying as the truth was, she wouldn't shy away from it. "No," she replied, her voice firm and strong. "That wasn't the reason I stopped by. In fact that thought never crossed my mind. Though, now that you mention it…"

Ranger chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her into his body. "Babe. We'll talk about that later, then. Why did you stop by?"

Taking a deep breath, Stephanie leaned away from Ranger's touch, trying to break physical contact. If they maintained that contact, she would never get her words out. "It's really just a moot point now," she began, wincing when she faltered and failed to follow through.

Reaching out, Ranger once more wrapped an arm around Stephanie and drew her to his side, taking a moment to wrap his other hand around her front, essentially trapping her against him. "Try again," he prompted, amusement in his voice.

Stephanie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to do this. Ignoring the burning nervousness in her stomach while wishing for some of Joe's Malox, she decided to just put it out there. "I love you. I'm in love with you. I have been for a lot longer than I was willing to acknowledge. You're my best friend, but I want to be a larger part of your life and want you to be a larger part of mine. I want to be more than just friends. I want us to be exclusive with each other and give ourselves time to see where things go. I'm not looking for a ring right now and I may never want children, but my heart is yours, has been yours for a few years, I just decided to stop denying it. I know your life is crazy, but that night I went to see you to see if we could negotiate a relationship," she finished, her eyes squeezed shut, her body stiff and her hands fisted tightly. Despite the relief she felt in saying the words, Stephanie felt terrified that she had just driven Ranger away forever.

Silence reigned in the apartment for several seconds. Then, Ranger removed his arms from around Stephanie, set her aside gently and stood.

Stephanie felt herself shatter. He was leaving. She had ruined everything. She felt tears prickling her eyes, but before they could fall, the light switched on, illuminating the room.

Blinking rapidly served the dual purpose of driving away her tears and helping her eyes adjust to the sudden brightness.

By the time she could see again, Ranger sat in front of her on the coffee table, his face serious but otherwise unreadable. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and looked at her. "Repeat what you just said," he commanded, his voice rough with emotion.

Stephanie couldn't identify the emotion she heard in Ranger's voice, but the sense of relief she felt that he remained washed away any nerves she might have felt. Taking a deep breath, she looked into his blank, emotionless eyes and repeated everything word for word. When she finished, she read a storm of emotion in Ranger's eyes. She just couldn't identify any of them.

"Why is that moot?" he demanded, his voice tight, the words sharp, as if he was struggling for control.

Her brow furrowing, Stephanie replied, "Because you have a girlfriend." She actually managed to identify surprise on Ranger's face. "That night, you told me you had a date. A few days later, I walked in on Lula and Connie talking about the hot redhead you'd been 'wining and dining' and 'showing the sights'. I may not be that smart Ranger, but even I can add one plus one and get two."

Ranger stared at her for a moment before his head began to almost imperceptibly shake from side to side and if indicating "no". Reaching out, he took one of Stephanie's hands in his, holding more tightly when she tried to pull it back. He waited for her to meet his eyes once more. "Babe," he began. "I don't have a girlfriend. I'm not seeing anyone. Amnesty Rhodes is an old friend, one of the few I had in high school that were worth keeping. That's all she is to, a friend." A wry smile turned one corner of his mouth upward. "There is not and will never be anything more than friendship between us. Her girlfriend would object strongly if we even tried." Turning serious once more, he continued, "But there's a more pressing reason she's only my friend. She's not my type. I'm afraid I'm only attracted to half-Italian, half-Hungarian, curly haired brunettes with the most amazingly soft skin I've ever felt and blue eyes I could spend forever staring into." He drew Stephanie forward slightly. "I love you too, Babe. I'm in love with you. I didn't lie when I said my life doesn't lend itself to relationships. That's still true, but I just don't think I can do this without you anymore. You have no idea how much I need you. So, yes, Babe. I'll negotiate a starting point with you and we'll see where it goes from there."

Stephanie's smile was radiant. Ranger matched it before tilting his head back and laughing with joy.

End


	3. Counting Days

_Disclaimer: the characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission, no copyright infringement is intended._

**Counting The Days**

By TT

Stephanie stood in the middle of the living room and sighed. She reached up and rubbed her hand against her forehead, wondering how many times she would have to start over.

Turning around, she took in the residue left in her apartment after the police finished. The mess, formerly known as all her worldly possessions, had disappeared as well. Once she cleaned everything up, she would have a clean slate with which to work; except, of course, the ugly orange and brown bathroom. It was her albatross.

Moving back to the entry way, she gathered her supplies together and moved into the kitchen. Mary Alice, fortunately, had Rex for the week to bring into her class. At least her baby was safe. Still, she wanted to make sure he would return to a clean home.

Hours later, she straightened and groaned as her back muscles protested. What she wouldn't give for a set of strong hands to massage every muscle in her back right now.

Unfortunately, unless a spa could fit her in immediately, she had no hope at all of getting one.

Gathering her supplies, she tried to ignore the loneliness and restlessness she felt.

Eight months ago, Ranger had stopped by to let Stephanie know he would be 'in the wind'. Using his ESP powers, or just reading the question on her face, he told her it would be long this time, possibly over a year. Stephanie had desperately wanted to tell him her feelings right then, but she was still officially 'on' with Joe. The fact that Ranger had placed a finger on her lips to keep her from saying anything sent the message clearly enough that now was not the time for her to tell him the truth.

With one very passionate kiss on both their sides, he disappeared to wherever it was the wind took him.

No one had heard anything from him since.

Even before Ranger left, Stephanie and Joe had decided to really try and work on their relationship. After a particularly stressful incident with a stalker, they had even gone to couples counseling. But, no matter how hard they tried, Stephanie just didn't feel like they were in the same place.

Seven months ago, Joe had told her he would be going undercover on a case. He was, once again, working with the Treasury Department.

That bit of information was more than he had ever shared in the past, and his openness had surprised Stephanie. She wished him well, promised to be there when he got home and proceeded to worry about him only slightly less than she worried about Ranger, which is to say, only about eighty percent of her awake time was spent thinking about the men she loved now instead of the 45% from before.

Two months later, the national news reported about the success of the Treasury Department in taking down a long-established, national counterfeiting ring.

Two days later, Joe showed up in her apartment.

Happy to see him back, Stephanie rushed into his arms and greeted him with a tight hug and kiss.

Before the reunion could get too carried away, though, Joe pulled back and led Stephanie to the couch.

As they sat there, Stephanie looked at his face and knew their life paths were about to diverge.

"Because of this case and the others, I've been offered a position in Treasury," Joe informed quietly, holding both of Stephanie's hands in his.

Stephanie could see there was more he wanted to say, but could see him struggling. She also felt her heart begin to break just a little. Eventually she found her voice, "Is this what you want to do?"

Joe pressed his lips together for a moment before nodding. "I do," he admitted. "It's not what I grew up dreaming about, but..."

"It's your chance to fly," Stephanie supplied. When Joe blinked in surprise, she couldn't help but laugh softly. "You were never really Berg, Joe. You outgrew us a long time ago."

"You're not Berg either, Stephanie," he countered, squeezing her hands. "Not really."

A sad smile appeared on Stephanie's face. "Maybe not," she admitted, "But I haven't figure out how to break free. This is your chance Joe. It may not be your childhood dream, but nothing says our dreams can't change."

"You've been reading self-help books while I was away?" he teased, smiling when he heard her laugh. "Seriously, Steph. You're not meant for a Berg life either. There's a whole world out there beyond Trenton just waiting for you." He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Come with me to Washington?"

Stephanie felt hear heart crack even more and tears form in her eyes. A part of her desperately wanted to say 'yes', wanted to escape the confines of the city, wanted to see Joe fly. But, she instinctively knew it was not her time, that she wasn't ready for such a move. In the past few months and years she had grown to trust her instincts.

Before she could open up her mouth to reply, Joe's eyes softened with sadness and loss. "You don't have to say it, Cupcake," he whispered, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. "I know."

"I love you," she said, her voice clogged with tears.

"I know," he replied, his voice rough. "A part of me will always be in love with you."

Stephanie closed her eyes and nodded.

The rest of that night had been emotionally painful for both of them, but necessary. It closed a very long segment of their lives. When Joe finally left in the early hours of the morning, there were no promises to keep in touch, no false promises. Neither of them was a particularly good correspondent, but, should their paths ever cross again, both knew they would be fine, possibly even better than before.

And so, Joe had left her.

After a month of dragging around feeling lost, Stephanie ran into Terry Gilman at a bar one 'girl's night out'. They would never be the best of friends, but the two were both drunk enough from the alcohol they consumed to be maudlin. It was Terri who got her thinking, got her wondering about her life and her options. Stephanie could still remember the conversation.

"Stephanie," Terri said, plopping heavily into the seat across from her.

"Terri," Stephanie returned, her tone neutral.

The blond looked at her and blinked a few times. "You ever wonder what you're still doing around here?"

Stephanie's brow furrowed, puzzled by the question.

"No, seriously," Terri protested, taking another sip of her drink. "You're no more Berg than I am, than Joe was. Neither of us, you and me, really fit here. It's too small, too tight." Her eyes drifted around the bar.

Taking a sip of her own drink, Stephanie replied, "It's safe."

That response drew Terri's attention back to her. Her shoulders slumped and her face fell as she accepted the truth of Stephanie's statement. "Yeah," she agreed. "I haven't felt alive since I left just after high school and struck out on my own to be a cheerleader." She took another sip of her drink and her eyes grew distant. "I haven't dreamed since then either," she murmured almost to herself.

Stephanie just nodded, trying to remember the last time she felt truly alive, truly free. "The hell with that," she stated, not wanting to think about it anymore. "Let's go have some fun," she finished, tossing back the rest of her drink. Standing, she reached across the table, grabbed Terri's hand and dragged the other woman toward a group of men standing on the opposite side of the bar.

But it had gotten her thinking. Stephanie realized her words had been true. A good portion of the reason why she was still in Trenton came down to the fact it was safe, it was known. Even with the stalkers and skips and psychos, there was a security in her life here.

After she got over the hangover, Stephanie began to seriously look at her life. She actually took the time to look at herself and then visited a career counselor. Not a normal one, but one Diesel recommended the last time he popped in looking for help.

It had not been an easy process, but Stephanie finally figured out what she wanted to be and what she wanted to do. The past few months she had focused on preparing for the life she wanted and it didn't have to be a life in Trenton.

She had at least six more months of preparation before she would be ready to fly. That meant she would be breaking ties which were holding her down soon.

In all of the soul-searching she had done, however, there came one realization she knew she couldn't ignore.

Right now the only reason she remained in Trenton instead of seeking training elsewhere, was Ranger. She had no idea when he would return and needed to be here when he did.

After being so honest with Joe about her feelings for him, Stephanie had realized she could no longer lie to herself about her feelings for Ranger. If nothing else, he deserved to be told how she felt and about the changes she was making. A good portion of her heart longed for the 'someday' he had promised as well, even if it was never to be, she at least owed him the opportunity to try.

With the apartment cleaned and everything put away, Stephanie picked up her purse and headed toward the door. She startled when she heard a knock on it. Opening the door, she found a UPS delivery person standing outside. "Yes?" she asked.

"Stephanie Plum?" he asked.

She nodded, her hand dropping into her purse and fingering her stun gun just in case. "Yes," she replied cautiously.

"I have a package for you, but need your signature right here," he informed, holding out a pad and pen for her to use.

Signing the electronic pad, Stephanie returned the device and held out her hand. She received a flat package wrapped in brown paper. Bidding the man a good afternoon, she closed the door, locked it and then headed back to the kitchen.

Setting her purse on the counter, she examined the package, but could find no message or return address. Carefully opening it, she discovered it was a calendar simply called 'Soaring'. In the upper left hand corner, the word 'Babe' overshadowed the picture. Stephanie knew that handwriting and felt her breath catch as she reached out to touch the writing.

Opening the calendar, she looked at January and had to smile. There were brief notes written on various days throughout the month. Reading the notes, she realized that every single note referenced an event she and Ranger shared. She felt her heart melting and quickly blinked as tears pricked her eyes.

Flipping to February, she noticed more of the same, notes on moments they had shared. Some of the memories made her cringe, some caused her to laugh out loud, but one caused her breath to catch once more.

Her eyes continued to scan through the days until she reached today. What she saw written there in Ranger's bold writing caused her to drop the calendar in shock.

Desperately she wanted to believe what the letters said, but she was terrified to do so.

Her hand shook slightly as she reached out and traced each letter. "Please," she prayed from the depth of her heart.

She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up just seconds before a black-clad figure settled on the floor next to her. Her eyes wide, Stephanie turned to look at the familiar face, needing confirmation, but afraid to ask.

Ranger reached out and cupped her face in his hands. Leaning foreword, he gently kissed her. "Babe," he said, his thumbs brushing her cheekbones.

In that one word, Stephanie heard all the confirmation she needed, every answer to every question she had. She knew he would be by her side as she finally tried to fly. But for now, she couldn't suppress the wide, joyful smile that spread across her face. "Ranger," she replied, her excitement evident in her voice. Leaning forward, she returned his kiss before pulling back. Staring into his eyes, she said more softly, her voice almost a caress, "Carlos."

It was Ranger's turn to smile. This smile reached all the way up into his eyes, causing them to sparkle with joy.

Standing, Ranger held his hand out for Stephanie to take, which she did without hesitation.

As he started to draw her toward the front door of the apartment, she pulled back gently and bent down to pick up the calendar and her purse.

Lifting the calendar, she allowed her eyes to once more fall on the message written on the calendar for that day - SOMEDAY.

End


	4. Overcoming

_Disclaimer: The characters from the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Challenge: The Toby Keith challenge – using the phrase, "Yeah, I'm real good uner pressure" from the song "American Soldier". It also uses three quotes from John Wayne (I stumbled upon them before I began writing this). Two are clearly identified and the third is identified by the {1} after it._

_Note: My muse is being weird again. This is more of an outline than a story, and in a post-apocalyptic type of setting which I don't usually care for, but there you go. It's what wanted to be written so it was. I will most likely never flesh this out. I just don't have the time._

**Overcoming**

By TT

_March 11 – Plum house, Chambersburg, NJ_

Stepping out of the kitchen, Stephanie laughed softly, smiled and called over her shoulder, "I'll see you Sunday, Mom."

She'd taken only a few steps toward the living room when she heard her Grandma Mazur utter the words, "Oh, my dear Lord."

The tone of the older woman's voice made the hair on the back of Stephanie's neck stand on end. The words uttered were filled with awe, horror and fear. Only once before had she heard that tone of voice. It had been on September 11, 2001.

A sick feeling twisted low in her guts as she determinedly moved into the living room, not knowing what to expect, not wanting her world to turn upside down, but never wavering in the knowledge that she had to learn everything she could.

When she stepped into the room, she took one look at the television and immediately dropped the bag she held in her hands. "Dear God," she whispered, taking in every sight, every sound and every comment of the newscaster as it spilled forth from the speakers.

When the signal ceased transmitting, she snapped into action and started barking orders to her family even as she headed toward the door. There were things to do.

_June 23 – Headed toward Trenton_

Ranger kept walking, pushing, driving himself forward, doing his best to ignore the devastation around him, not speaking to the men who followed him. There was nothing to say.

He had been out of the country when the first attacks happened, deep in the jungle gathering recon. A job he wouldn't have accepted before he met Stephanie Plum, simply because he considered it a waste of his skills. As he grew closer to her, however, the danger lost its attraction, thus his willingness to take on more recon jobs.

There were still elements of danger in these jobs and more than once he'd been grateful for his less socially acceptable skills since those alone had saved his life. But the recon jobs used his other skills, had helped him hone them. He just prayed those non-lethal skills would help him track down his Babe because he refused to believe what common sense told him – there was no way she could have survived the attack.

Because his mission kept him out of touch, he suspected nothing until his ride failed to show up at the rendezvous point. He moved to the secondary extraction point and waited. Again, his ride failed to appear.

At this point, he took a chance to try and raise someone. He failed.

His trek through the jungle took almost a week before he reached a small village where he could commandeer a vehicle, or, perhaps just by it off its owner.

When he finally found the man who owned the lone truck in the village, he explained what he needed and where he wanted to go. The man just looked at Ranger as if he were insane before explaining exactly why Ranger could not go to the city and would not be flying anywhere.

That was the first he heard of the attacks – three weeks after they happened.

With much luck and more than a little bribery, luck and threats, he and his team had managed to make their way to the coast where they found a man willing to get them at least part way home.

As they traveled, they gathered more information. What they learned proved almost impossible to believe until they passed within sight of what had been a costal city. The devastation stood as silent testimony that, as fantastic as it seemed, the rumors were true. An alien race had arrived and began destroying cities in an attack that mirrored the movie "Independence Day", at least in part.

It took he and his men two months to arrive in a tiny, overlooked hamlet on the Texas coast – one of the few places to survive the attacks thanks to its insignificant size.

Transportation through the middle of the country still survived and Omaha proved to be the temporary national capital with the government running out of Offutt Air Force Base. Ranger agreed with that decision. Having been there only twice, he knew it to be defensable and fairly centrally located.

He had gotten as close to Trenton as he could. When they were told it was the end of the line, he had been surprised to see that most of his team stayed with him. As soon as they hit American soil, he told them they should go check on their families. Of the six other men on the team, only two left. Being honest with himself, he was unsurprised Bobby Brown remained with him. The other man had set up a comfortable life in Trenton. Brown's family would be safe enough since they were based out of St. Louis, but, in the face of these events, Ranger still felt some surprise that Bobby's presence.

He didn't know the other three that well. He knew that Temper – Liam Schultz – had family in Boston, yet the man stuck with Ranger despite the fact he was headed toward Trenton.

He couldn't, remember where Sweetie and Ajax came from. Half the time he couldn't even remember their real names and it didn't really matter. They were under his command, but no one would ever hear of it, no one would ever know.

Still, they followed after him as he trudged through the destruction and devastation, through the rubble and the ruin toward the only place he could remember feeling alive, toward the one woman who, he finally admitted, owned him heart and soul, toward Stephanie Plum.

Unfortunately, from his perspective, the unlikely emotion of compassion had, more than once, moved he and his men to delay their journey and help others. Though they could do little to truly improve a situation, assisting in moving some rubble or killing and dressing a deer for a family took little enough time and effort.

Now he stood on the outskirts of the city that had been his home. He had no idea what to expect, where to head, where to start his search for Stephanie. So he headed, as he always had, toward her apartment.

He smirked slightly to himself as he wondered if her hideous brown and orange bathroom had survived the attack. It had survived all the others.

Moving into the city, he found himself surprised to find several roads nearly clear. Obviously some heavy machinery would be needed, but a swath of clear, though broken, pavement stretched down the middle of the road. The five-foot wide path would not allow a car down it, but it certainly made walking much easier and, perhaps a dirt bike or bicycle could handle the rough road.

He paused at an intersection and looked around, trying to judge where he currently stood versus where he thought he should be. Taking in his surroundings, he eventually determined they were closer to Rangeman then Stephanie's apartment and turned right to head toward the building which housed his business.

Ranger spared a thought or two for the other branches of his business – Boston, Atlanta and Miami. All of those cities faced the same issues as Trenton. In essence, the company that had been his dream, now stood in ashes. Oddly, that didn't matter to him nearly as much as finding Stephanie alive and well.

As he approached the location for his building, Ranger noticed the road became more clear, some buildings were open and there were people moving about on foot with purpose, looking determined.

Eventually, he reached his building and stopped to take it in.

The top four floors were missing, but the rest of it stood. The windows were no longer the one-way, reflective glass they had been, but instead seemed to be clear plastic.

What surprised him the most, however, were the people entering and leaving the building. Old, young and in between seemed to be lined up outside the doors to the lobby, waiting patiently to go inside. Above the doors to the building a banner hung displaying a quote from John Wayne: Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway.

Making his way around the building, he found the entrance to the garage just as Big Dog and Cal walked out.

"Ranger?" Big Dog greeted in surprise.

"Big Dog," Ranger returned with a nod. "Cal."

The surprise cleared from Big Dog's face and a small smile appeared. "You should go in and up to the third floor," he said, his smile suddenly looking sly. "Take the stairs. We still don't have electricity for the elevator."

With that said, the two men headed off down the street. Entering the building, unsure of what else he would find in this odd version of Trenton, he and the men made their way to the stairwell and up to the third floor.

Stepping onto the floor, Ranger catalogued the changes. Most of he internal walls were gone, the scars of battle evident on those that remained.

The only divided room left was the conference room in the corner, it's glass walls miraculously intact.

He could see a number of men gathered in there, some he knew, some he didn't. The Chief of Police stood with his back to the wall, talking to someone sitting in the desk. The other people he identified included Sam Walters from the fire department and Henry Russell, one of the administrators from St. Francis.

"Rangeman?" Tank's voice asked, dripping with incredulity.

Turning to see his long-time friend, Ranger offered the smallest of smiles and nodded. Ranger felt stunned a moment later when the big man reached out and hugged him tightly.

"Thank God," Tank murmured.

Ranger briefly returned the hug and stepped away from his friend. "What's going on Tank?" he asked, rather than commanded. He needed to gather intel before taking command of things.

Tank just shook his head a mysterious smile appearing on his face. "Follow me," he commanded, turning and heading toward the conference room.

They had taken three steps before the door to the conference room opened and a slight figure appeared in the doorway. Ranger immediately identified the form as Stephanie.

His eyes were fixed on her, drinking in the sight of her standing, healthy and whole. He didn't even register it when she raced forward. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her as she launched herself at him from a few steps away. He didn't give a conscious thought to capturing her lips with his own.

The kiss finished too soon and lasted forever, communicated desperate passion and abiding love. It was the most contradictory kiss he had ever experienced, but said more than either of them could ever express.

Eventually, the kiss stopped and Stephanie leaned back, unwilling to step away. Her eyes sparkled with love, lust and joy. "I've missed you," she said, her voice rough with emotion.

"I love you," Ranger responded softly so only she could hear. Pulling back to see her eyes, he could see that he wasn't the only one shocked by his comment. Yet he could not deny the truth of it.

Stephanie stood on her tiptoes, kissed his lips briefly and whispered, "I love you, too."

"O. K. Break it up," Sam Walters said, a broad smile on his face and evident in his voice.

Stephanie blushed and moved to stand beside Ranger instead of in front of him despite the fact her eyes never broke with hers. "A lot's changed since you went away," she stated, drawing him toward the conference room.

A throat clearing startled her and she looked around, noticing all eyes on the floor glued to her. Glancing over at Tank, she asked, "Tank, would you see to these men? They look like they could use some rest before we brief them on the situation." Then, turning to the three men who had been in the conference room with her she continued, "Would you gentlemen come with me. We should be able to finish quickly so that I can update Ranger with what's been going on."

Ranger felt a bemused smile betray his emotions as he watched Stephanie ordering everyone around with an authority he hadn't seen before, but of which he always suspected her to be capable.

He followed along to the conference room. When he stepped inside, he realized it had been turned into an office. Unwilling to be too far from his Babe, he settled in the seat behind the table and drew Stephanie down into his lap. He smiled a little more when he saw her blush at his actions, but simply wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

Stephanie cleared her throat. "I've finally heard back from my friend in Cleveland. They're willing to supply what they can for the hospital. She's going to contact other hospitals in the area and see what can be arranged. It may be a few days, though. Will you be OK for a while?" she asked Russell.

The administrator thought for a few minutes. "We're doing what we can with what we have," he admitted. "Sooner would be better, but we'll take what we can get. Thanks for doing this, Stephanie. I know how hard it is and how much I was pushing."

Stephanie waved off his thanks. "_**Yeah, I work well under pressure**_," she deflected, blushing slightly. "If there's nothing else?" When all three men shook their heads, she continued, "Great. We'll meet again briefly tonight for updates."

The three men agreed and left the room.

Stephanie waited for them to go before turning sideways in Ranger's lap, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're home," she whispered, her voice betraying the tears she was holding back.

"Shh," Ranger whispered. "I'm here and I won't leave again."

"Promise?" she demanded.

"Promise."

Taking a deep breath, she stood and took his hand.

Rising from the chair, Ranger sent her a questioning look.

Stephanie shrugged. "I have a lot to tell you and I don't want the guys to see me getting all emotional. I'll just let Tank know where we're going and have him get me if needed."

Ranger held off on the questions brimming in his mind and simply nodded, allowing Stephanie to lead him.

He felt a small amount of surprise as she grabbed an oil lamp, lighted it and led him down to the sub-basement. He felt even more surprise as he realized the sub-basement had been sectioned off into small rooms. Stephanie stopped in front of one of the doors, unlocked it and pushed it open.

Stepping inside, he scanned the room, recognizing the hodge-podge of furniture from various places around Rangeman. She eventually led him over to a sofa he recognized from the waiting area, sat and pulled him down next to her.

He gave her a minute to gather her thoughts. When she seemed reluctant to start, he asked, "What happened with the attacks?"

Stephanie took a deep breath and moved a little closer to Ranger. "I saw the broadcast of the first attack on New York. I was at home. I made my parents and Grandma pack a small bag and head out of town as quickly as possible. Grandma has a distant cousin in Tennessee just outside of Nashville. I told them to head there." A sad look flooded her eyes as she admitted, "I don't even know if they made it. But I hope they did."

Taking a shuddering breath, Stephanie shook those thoughts away and continued. "I called Val and told her to do the same. Then headed down to the police station. The chief had things under control there, more or less and everyone on the force began going out either to evacuate people or to direct traffic so they could get out of town.

"While I was there, seeing if I could help, Tank showed up ready to offer Rangeman assistance. He disappeared with the chief for a while and I kept looking for something to do. Eventually, Robin drafted me to work on the phones, calming people, talking to them…

"We got word from New York, Philadelphia and Washington while we were trying to empty the city. Those things were landing and sending ground troops. Obviously people fought them, but met with limited success. The attack began on Trenton five hours after New York. Most of the buildings were destroyed in that first assault, but we'd been successful in getting the majority of citizens out of the city. Tank, it turns out, had been going over safe locations with the chief, finding spots deep underground that might survive the assault. Everyone who couldn't make it out of the city was instructed to go to one of those locations, the police, fire and emergency workers who stayed were told to begin gathering as much food, water and other supplies as they could and move them to some of those locations.

"Stores got emptied. The streets were almost deserted, but there was more to do. We just didn't have enough hands to get everyone to safety and save everything. So we drafted the gangs."

"Wait, you got the gangs to help you?" Ranger asked, surprised.

Stephanie offered a wry smile and nodded. "Apparently, under the right circumstances, they're very civic minded," she observed.

"And when you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow {1}," Tank's deep voice offered from the doorway.

"Ta-ank," Stephanie whined.

"You know it's true," Tank continued, entering Stephanie's apartment and settling in the lone arm chair. He smiled when Stephanie merely huffed in frustration. "And you're not telling the whole story."

"I'm telling what needs to be told," she defended.

Tank shook his head. "You're telling what you want him to know," he opposed. "It's already done and over with. He's going to hear about it one way or another."

Stephanie crossed her arms and glared at Tank. "Fine," she groused. "You tell it, then."

Ranger smiled at the pout on Stephanie's face before reaching over and moving her to his lap. Wrapping his arms around his woman, he looked at Tank and commanded, "Speak."

The three of them spent the next few hours going over the details of the assault, the fight with the aliens and how, finally, they received word on how to destroy the ships. They managed to get rid of the ship that attacked Trenton before it moved on, but the alien ground troops proved far more difficult to destroy, resulting in several weeks of fighting before victory could be declared."

While they revealed the story, Ranger also discovered how Stephanie came to be looked upon as the defacto leader of the human cause. It wasn't her strategic prowess, organizational skills or anything else that had promoted her, the skill that helped her rise was her knowledge of people. She was a central connection among the various groups of people and someone they all trusted enough to put in charge.

When Tank praised her leadership skills, Stephanie rolled her eyes and denied doing anything. She passed it all off as simple delegation, of responsibility.

Eventually, the discussion wound down as they explained the Rangeman building now served as the central government agency. People came here to get work assignments. Stephanie had rallied her 'troops' together and they had one common goal - to take back Trenton and make it theirs once more. It would be the final victory over the enemy, a sign that they could endure and overcome.

To say he was impressed would be a major understatement. Ranger felt so much pride in the little Burg girl who hated her gun, lost her cuffs and stole his heart, that he couldn't stop the words if he tried. Looking down into her blue eyes, he allowed himself to get lost for a few minutes before kissing her deeply and stating, "Proud of you, Babe."

Tank left shortly after that. Despite his desire to become physically reacquainted with Stephanie, Ranger knew she was no longer the woman he had left behind when he departed for his mission.

For her part, Stephanie seemed to be happy to just sit in his lap, leaning her head against his shoulder and being held. After several minutes, her soft voice broke the silence. "I'm so happy you're back," she said. "I need you so much."

"I'm here now, Babe," he assured, running one hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. "I'm not going anywhere again," he assured. "I'll be right by your side."

Stephanie lifted her head and kissed him softly. "You're what kept me going," she admitted.

Ranger blinked in surprise.

She smiled at his expression. "When it started, before the destruction, I needed a part of you with me. So I went to your apartment. I meant to take one of your shirts, but I saw a book sitting next to your bed and took that instead. I could tell you read it a lot and even found some notes in it. I kept it with me, always," she admitted. "When things got tough, when I would question myself, I just kept asking 'What would Ranger do in this situation' and then acted how I thought you would."

Ranger felt his heart swell with love; something he had never before experienced. He squeezed her more tightly to him and placed a gentle but firm kiss to her temple. "I can't imagine what you went through," he whispered.

Stephanie settled her head on his shoulder once more and rubbed her cheek against him. "When things seemed their worst, I would recite one of the John Wayne quotes you wrote down in the book." Seeing his eyebrow raise in question, Stephanie recited, "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."

Ranger nodded his head. That quote had carried him through more than one dark night as well. Especially when he realized that his tomorrow might include even a glimpse of Stephanie Plum.

"I would recite that and wonder if tomorrow would be the day you would come home," Stephanie admitted.

"You never doubted I would come," he stated. For some it might be a question, but Ranger knew Stephanie well enough to know she would never question his appearance, just accept it as inevitable.

"I knew you would come," she agreed. A soft smile played on her lips as she cupped his face in her hand, "You're my Batman. You're always there to save me whether from psychos, aliens, despair or responsibility. You're always in my heart, my mind, my soul. Now you're in my arms and I'm not going to let you go. I know you have a lot to assimilate, a lot to learn, but I hope you'll be by my side as we continue to rebuild Trenton." Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead on his. "I'm so tired, Ranger. I don't know that I can continue on my own."

Ranger moved his head so he could kiss her lips once more. "You're not alone anymore, Babe. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," he assured once more.

He had no idea what the future held. He had only a vague idea of the present issues and pressures, but he knew with certainty he would never voluntarily leave her, that he would help her carry this burden and give her all the love he had. For the first time in a very long time, he knew with certainty that here, in Stephanie's arms he had found home and home was worth fighting for.

End


	5. Tell Me All Your Secrets

_Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich. The plot device herein is from "The New Adventures Of Wonder Woman" which belongs to Warner Brothers, et al. Both are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Note: I was playing the WW episode "I do. I do." on my PC (available at ) while trying to finish a crochet project when the plot device used in the episode clicked over into the Plum_ _world for me._ _So… here's a bit of cheesy fluff for you today. Oh, the plot device is that the owner of a health spa would manipulate nerves in a specific way to send the person he was massaging into a trance where he could pump them for information and details and they wouldn't remember a thing afterward._

_Rating: Suitable for people over 13_

**Tell Me All Your Secrets**

By TT

Stephanie stirred, slowly rising to consciousness. Something had woken her; something familiar.

As consciousness returned, she gasped as her eyes flew open. Sitting bolt upright in bed, she barely had time to blink before she launched herself across the room, wrapping her arms around the figure she hadn't seen in far too long even as her mouth sought his in a kiss she hoped communicated the overwhelming emotion stirring within her.

Eventually, the need for air caused her to break the kiss. "Carlos," she breathed, looking deeply into his eyes. She immediately read exhaustion and relief. The shadows she saw from time to time were present as well, but she knew he couldn't talk about what caused them. All she could do was try to chase them away.

"Babe," Ranger replied, he voice soft and dripping with fatigue.

"Come on," Stephanie suggested, pulling him toward the bed. "You need some sleep. I'll give you a proper welcome home after you get some rest," she promised, with a hint of a wolf grin on her face.

Ranger stopped and pulled her close once more, allowing his lips to crash down on hers.

Stephanie felt her body react to his even as she felt his reaction to her. The thought that maybe she wouldn't have to wait to welcome him home crossed her mind.

When the kiss broke this time, Ranger began trailing kisses down her throat until a yawn overtook him.

"We'll finish this in the morning," Stephanie repeated, once more tugging him toward the bed. "I sure don't want you falling asleep just when things are getting interesting."

"Babe!" Ranger protested, sounding offended. He appeared to want to continue to argue the point, but another, larger yawn overwhelmed him again. This time when he stopped he let out a sigh. "Fine, I'll go to sleep without my welcome home, but only after I shower. I smell like airport."

Stephanie nodded and dropped his hand.

Ranger reached out and took her hand in his, his own wolf grin in evidence. "Of course, I'll probably need some supervision in the shower," he purred, drawing her closer. "I wouldn't want to fall asleep and hurt myself."

Stephanie slid her hands under his shirt and started pushing it upward. "We can't have that, now. Can we?"

Twenty minutes later, the duo left the shower, the edge taken off their need for each other, though neither felt completely satisfied. While washing Ranger – her not-so-subtle way of checking him over for injuries – Stephanie noticed that Ranger seemed really tense.

As she headed back to the bed, she grabbed some massage oil.

Ranger tossed his towel back into the bathroom and sat down on the bed, looking at the bottle in her hand. "Steph," he said. "I really, really want you right now, but I'm just so tired. Maybe after a nap…"

Stephanie silenced him with a brief kiss. "Though I love your idea and I know we usually have fun with this stuff, this time, I only want to give you a massage. Your back is in knots and you're going to wake up sore sleeping with that much tension in your muscles. Now," she said, standing beside the bed. "You lay face down on the bed."

When she felt happy that Ranger would follow her directions, she licked her lips in admiration of the rear-view of his wonderful body. Shaking her head, she lifted the sheet and comforter, covering his legs and backside. She then proceeded to straddle his hips and pour a small amount of the massage oil into her hand. Once the oil no longer felt cool, she rubbed it on her hands and started working on Ranger's back, starting with a light touch and gradually adding more pressure.

When she reached one particularly stubborn knot, she used both hands to try and soothe it, but it resisted all attempts. "What did you do while you were in the wind?" she muttered to herself.

"Observe Cortez compound. Eliminate target. Return," Ranger replied, his voice flat.

Stephanie froze, her eyes wide. She knew he wasn't supposed to tell her that. "Ranger?" she asked, wondering if he just didn't realize he'd responded. Something about his voice, though, told her it was something more.

"Hmm."

"Ranger. It's Stephanie. Isn't that a secret?" She asked.

"No," he replied, his voice still eerily emotionless. "Stephanie's secret is in the safe. Asking her to marry me. Then everyone will know she's mine."

Stephanie felt her jaw drop open and froze in place. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. He was going to ask her to marry him? Sure they were living together, had been for quite a while, but marriage? Was she ready for that? Forcing her jaw closed, she allowed her eyes to take in the still form below her.

She took several deep breaths as she wondered if she could be Mrs. Ricardo Carlos Manoso, if she could face her fear and take another chance on marriage. Then, her heart whispered the question, "_Can you say no?"_

The whirlwind of panic ceased building within her. Peace, joy and love filled her instead. She knew without a doubt it would be impossible for her to say no to him, leaving her with her answer.

Shaking off the wonder of this most recent revelation, Stephanie wondered what she should do about Ranger revealing his secrets. This couldn't be good.

Stephanie mentally reviewed her actions that led up to this change. The only thing she could think of was that she had been working on a particularly reticent knot in his back. She had no idea why that would matter, but at least she could explain it to Ranger when he snapped out of it; if she snapped out of it.

Careful to keep her mouth shut despite her burning desire to ask more questions and get the truth out of Ranger, Stephanie went back to work on the pesky knot that seemed to be the cause of all this.

Ten minutes later, the knot no longer existed. Fifteen minutes later, she could find no other tension in Ranger's back. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, smiling at the deep, even breaths he took.

Climbing off him, she put away the massage oil and turned out the light before crawling into bed next to the man who would one day be her husband.

**** **** **** **** **** **** ****

_Late morning/Early afternoon the next day_

Stephanie lay nearly boneless ontop of a lazing Ranger. Both were basking in the satiated glow of their extended welcome home.

As Ranger traced random patterns on her bare back, Stephanie felt her eyes drifting closed.

Just before she drifted off, though, the memory of what happened last night while she massaged Ranger popped into her mind and snapped her back awake.

Pushing herself up somewhat so she could meet his eyes, Stephanie took a moment to search fro the right words. Seeing the question in Ranger's eyes, she decided to just delve into her explanation. "Last night while I was giving you the massage, I found one knot that was really bad," she began. She saw Ranger nod for her to continue. "I'm not sure what I did, but…" here her voice drifted off. What she had to say sounded nuts to her, but if the information proved true, it could be a problem for both of them.

"But what babe?" Ranger asked, shifting Stephanie so he could sit up a bit more.

Stephanie moved away from him a bit and grabbed his shirt, slipping it over her naked form before moving to sit next to Ranger, who now sat upright on the couch. Her man nixed that idea, however, by grabbing her and pulling her down into his lap. Blowing out a breath, she continued, "But… but I was talking to myself trying to figure out what you had done to cause such a knot. In fact, I asked out loud, 'What did you do while you were in the wind?' Which shouldn't have mattered, only…only you responded."

Ranger stiffened, going perfectly still. "What?" he demanded.

Stephanie understood he wasn't asking her to repeat her words, but rather, to repeat his. "You said 'Observe Cortez compound. Eliminate Target. Return.' And that was all."

A curse slipped from Ranger's lips as he moved Stephanie aside and started pacing.

Despite the seriousness of what happened and Ranger's obvious agitation, she couldn't help but admire his naked, well-muscled form as he paced in front of her. "Damn hormones," she grumbled softly.

"Babe," Ranger said, his voice a mixture of amusement and desire as he met her eyes. A moment later he shook his head and paced a few more times. Finally, he picked up his pants and held out a hand for her. "Let's get dressed," he commanded. "We need to speak to someone."

Less than an hour later, Stephanie found herself sitting in an examination room in an undisclosed location with Ranger laid out before her, resting on his stomach. A man she'd never seen before and, most likely, would never see again stood beside her.

"Now, Ms. Plum," the man she assumed was a doctor said. "Show me exactly where the knot was and exactly how you manipulated it up until you received your response from Mr. Manoso."

Doing her best to remember, Stephanie showed how she had worked up Ranger's back and finally where the knot resided as well as how she worked on it.

The doctor asked a few more questions, made several notes and then left the room while Ranger sat up and redressed in his shirt.

"Ranger…"

"Shh," Ranger cut her off, drawing her near. "We'll find out in a little bit," he assured, kissing her temple and simply holding her.

Though waiting had never been her strong point, Stephanie simply rested her head against Ranger's chest and listened to his heart beating as she waited.

A while later the doctor returned. "Thank you for this information and for your time. As far as we can determine, this is nothing to worry about. The chances of it ever happening again are almost zero. We do recommend that you, Mr. Manoso, see a chiropractor since there are some alignment issues with your back at this time."

Done with what he had to say, the doctor nodded to them both before turning and leaving the room.

Ranger stood straight and allowed his arm to drop to Stephanie's lower back. He gently guided her forward, out of the building and to his car.

As he started to car, he paused and turned to face Stephanie. "I never did ask. Did I say anything else? Answer any other questions."

Stephanie stared at him with wide eyes.

Ranger smiled slightly and ran a finger down the side of her face. "I won't be upset, but I know your curiosity and just wondered."

Debating whether or not to say anything about the proposal, Stephanie decided against it. She knew he would ask and she knew how she would answer. He would let Ranger surprise her with the where and when. "Honestly, your voice and response to the first question kind of freaked me out," she replied. Her answer was the truth, as far as it went.

Ranger leaned over and placed a quick kiss on her lips before returning to his own seat, checking the area around him and putting the car into gear.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Ranger shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. Both of which were nervous habits very out of character for him. "So, are you free next weekend?" he asked with just the slightest edge of nervousness to his voice.

Stephanie's mind still dwelt on the fact he planned on proposing. She smiled slightly wondering if he the proposal would come next weekend. Given his nervousness, she strongly suspected the answer was yes. "Yes," she replied, a brilliant smile overspreading her face.

End


End file.
